[hackerspaces] A New Hacker Has Joined Your Party!

[Mel]

There are some really good points going on on both sides of the debate in
here :D

I come from a very different background from what seems to constitute the
base of hackers in my country and like Ross, haven't had as much exposure to
it as I wish - in part because spaces are still somewhat few and far between
(takes a while to actually get to the physical spaces) and because they are
sometimes not as welcoming as one might hope.

I do agree with you Far, on the account that ideally hackerspaces should
advocate for a more open culture and teach the people the system is failing
(even moreso on this one : I work as a librarian in a middle school, and
witness the drama firsthand). It doesn't necessarily mean, however, that
being part of the local economical fabric is necessarily a thing to avoid -
as long as it can be an advantage to the missions the spaces state for
themselves. A bit like this passage in the book "Makers" where characters
argue about creating a company to help represent a distributed network or
rides despite the wishes of their "leader" : it's just a convenient way to
create large structures, and it has the side-effect of generating some sort
of wealth - but in the end it's but a tool to an end, not the end in itself.

Your point about avoidance and distrust of authorities is interesting too -
in that said authorities are sometimes partly responsible for the situation
in which certain areas find themselves. However, in a context where
authorities are welcoming bottom-top innovation instead of squashing or
drawing (political and/or economical) profit from what hackerspaces can
offer to the community, couldn't that work ?

Brilliant debate overall though - keep the great ideas coming !

T.

-- 
Hackers Ouverts - Hackerspace nomade en Île de France
http://www.hackersouverts.fr/
 <http://www.hackersouverts.fr/>http://twitter.com/hackersouverts
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